Local Youth Group helps at City Reach, Boston

Members of the Senior High Youth Program and their advisors from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Reading recently collected donations of warm clothing to share with people in Boston who have experienced or are currently living unhoused.

During a 20 hour overnight experience, local youth worked with City Reach, Boston staff and members of other area church youth groups to learn firsthand about homelessness from people who have experienced it. Working together they served lunch and organized an open house where clothing (donated by members of the church and friends) was distributed to more than 200 guests. Before they left Boston, all participants joined in a closing worship, sharing reflections from their time together. An excerpt from a collaborative prayer written by staff and guests reads:
“I had a blessed day. To my friends old and new, for those housed and homeless may they be optimistic. Thankful are those who don't have to feel the cold.”

Mark Taitz, president of the UUCR Governing Board lifts up this experience noting that "as Unitarian-Universalists, we believe in living our principles and encourage our youth to do the same. We are extremely proud of our Senior High Youth for devoting their time and their talents to this worthwhile effort."

UUCR and the Senior High Youth Group thanks all who read about this project in the newspaper and donated warm clothes to the cause. To learn more about CityReach, go to http://commoncathedral.org/ cityreach. For more information about UUCR, go to www.uureading.org.